Therese kissing her "Ireland sheep" while waiting patiently to board our planeWell, we planned to wake up very early on Friday morning in order to finish packing and to throw our luggage in the car. We had our alarms set and cell phones set to make sure we'd wake up in time. Of course none of these were necessary. We woke up at 5:30 to the sound of Therese throwing up in her pack-n-play. When she was finished she very sweetly said, "Daddy?" Todd got her up and we changed her and put her in our bed (on a towel just in case she got sick again). Todd cleaned the crib while I dealt with sealing the sheets in plastic and packing them. I was panicked. What if Therese was too sick to fly? You're not supposed to be on an airplane if you have a fever, are coughing, or our sick because you could spread germs. There are signs all over the airport security about this. If the security people or customs people think you look sick, they won't let you on a plane. After 9 long weeks away, I just wanted to go home. We gave Therese Tylenol and hoped for the best.
Needless to say, we were packed and ready to go plenty early. We ate a normal breakfast but limited Therese to fruit and toast, which suited her just fine. This B&B had amazing food and you could order whatever you liked. I had an omlette, a bowl of fresh fruit, and cereal. After breakfast we dropped off our rental car. I was a little nervous when the lady came to check out the car since we had certainly brushed up against many hedges on the small Irish roads. There were two men yelling at each other a few spots down from us because Avis determined that the driver had damaged the car and the driver didn't want to pay. However, our car was deemed to be in good condition and we were sent on our way in an Avis van.
At the airport we were surprised to find no scales at the Aer Lingus counters. After all of our worry about weight on the way to Ireland (we weren't worried about the way to the US because there is a larger allowance), it was almost comical to think that they didn't even way the bags. Once in the airport, we played at a toy store, drank at a Guinness bar, and hit up some duty-free shops. They were handing out samples of liquor which seemed like a good thing to indulge in right before our long plane ride :-). Todd was able to try the Jamesons 12 year whiskey which he has been interested in trying for a long time. He brought some home as a souvenir. I got a beautiful, handmade Celtic cross and Therese got a little lamb with a shamrock on it. We passed through customs (the Dublin airport has a spot for travelers to the US to pass through US customs while still in Ireland - it was MUCH faster than going through customs in Chicago). Therese had perked up since arriving at the airport and seemed to be feeling fine so I stopped worrying about her being sick. It must have been all of the broccoli she ate the night before or something.
Our plane was huge and it was PACKED. Every last seat was filled. Luckily it was one of those really nice planes with TVs on the back of each seat so we could entertain ourselves the whole flight with the first season of Mad Men, Star Trek and other movies. Therese fell asleep just minutes in to her cartoon and slept nearly the whole flight.
Once we arrived in Chicago, we sought out the place where we would have to meet our bus to South Bend, ate dinner, and waited. We landed at 4:20 and the bus was scheduled to come at 6:50. I say "scheduled to come" because it didn't arrive until 7:15. Therese slept the entire 4.5 hour ride to South Bend allowing me to drift off between stops. Todd talked with an ND alum the whole way about sports and such. Our friend Andy met us at the South Bend airport and drove us home. By the time we unloaded the car, it was past midnight in South Bend, which meant that it felt like 5am to us. We were beyond tired and we knew that Therese would wake us up nice and early, not understanding that we were now in a new time zone.
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